Marshall seniors shunned from graduation ceremony after pranks

A group of East Texas seniors will graduate this weekend, but they won't be allowed to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas and they say it's all because of a prank gone wrong.

More than 12 Marshall ISD students reportedly visited the school overnight one day last week to indulge in what some might consider right-of-passage mischief.

The school district doesn't think so, pressing students to admit to wrongdoing, students said. They were summarily suspended and banned from their graduation ceremony.

What has some of the truth telling seniors upset is that their tightlipped peers will still have the chance attend commencement.

Rachel Mellinger is one student who will be sitting out of the ceremony.

"Yeah, no previous referrals," she said. "I'm actually graduating number nine in the class. I'm graduating National Honor Society.

"And it's crazy that after working four years for this hard, that after one little prank that wasn't supposed to be taken this far, and there was no intention of it being like this, that we get punished this severely for it."

Marshall ISD labeled the pranks vandalism. School officials and Marshall police are investigating. The school declined to comment on the discipline doled out to the students who admitted their involvement.

"It's kind of hard for me to understand what the school district is doing to these kids," said Armando Rubio.

His daughter, Perla Rubio, is one of the suspended students.

"They've been working so hard. And it's something that's not out of this world. Everybody has been doing that stuff, throwing toilet paper on the trees. It doesn't hurt nothing."